Human epidermal growth receptor-2 overexpressing early operable primary breast cancers in older (≥70 years) women: biology and clinical outcome in comparison with younger (<70 years) patients

There is dearth of literature reporting the prevalence and biological characteristics as well as the long-term clinical outcome of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) overexpressing tumours in older women. Currently, research involving trastuzumab at large focuses on the younger population. This study aimed to analyse their biological characteristics and to compare them with their younger counterparts from a single centre with a long-term clinical follow-up. Over 37 years (1973–2010), 1758 older (≥70 years) women with early operable (